Christmas conundrum

The festive season is almost upon us but of course for retailers it has been in full swing for some time as they bring in their stock ready for the Christmas rush.

It brings with it some rather tricky challenges.   In the UK one of the iconic Christmas items is a Christmas cracker.    A creation of paper, cardboard and ribbon containing a paper hat, a joke and some kind of small gift.   There are two major problems with this.   

The first is that a cracker is also a type of savoury biscuit.   When sending these items to the USA, the American customs authorities wanted to know the ingredients………..

Then of course, there is the chief issue – the crackers also contain what is called a ‘snap’.  This is so that when they are ‘pulled’ – the centre containing the gift comes apart with a bang.   The snap is a strip of cardboard with a small amount of explosive (yes explosive!!) on the middle.      

These are shipped all over the world by airfreight as IATA have designated them acceptable for airfreight so long as they are packed appropriately.   But beware some courier companies still regard them as hazardous and if they will accept them at all they restrict the quantity to about six crackers at a time.

So not only is the name a problem all over the world but you are shipping explosives too!

Happy shipping.

www.morley-consulting.co.uk